Canoe Trip: Alone in the Maine Wilderness by David K. Curran

Author:David K. Curran [Curran, David K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

I AM VERY FUSSY ABOUT THE TRIPS I CHOOSE. MY PRIMARY GUIDES ARE the Appalachian Mountain Club's Maine River Guide and the DeLorme Maine geographic series of river guides.These books are highly descriptive and very accurate. I look for a river that will give me at least a twoday trip. Something with a distance of at least thirty miles. I want there to be as few lake miles as possible. The entire river section must be described as "wild" in the AMC guide under the "scenery" category. Wild is defined as "Long sections of semiwilderness, with no more than a few isolated camps and occasional road access. Dirt roads may parallel the river within sight or sound but only for short distances, and they do not noticeably alter the semiwilderness atmosphere of the trip. These roads may be closed to the public or altogether impassable."

I don't mind portaging but naturally the less the better. I want rapids but if there are extended Class III rapids or greater, I would need the option of carrying around or scouting it by means of an existing trail. I need a river with water in it. Many of the best rivers or stretches of river run too low to carry a canoe by the end of spring. Water level in June or July then becomes a very chancy thing, depending on the amount of snow that winter in the region, the amount of spring rain and thus the levels of the lakes, ponds, and streams which feed the rivers. Levels can change significantly in just a few days.You can call area rangers, guides, or outfitters and watch the weather but it makes long-term planning difficult. During the spring I can't just pack up and go at a moment's notice. Weather is, of course, an issue in northern Maine in the spring. Snow and ice can extend into May. Being out in a cold dismal May rain has not been fun either. Therefore, I want a river that will still float my canoe at least through June. These are the features I look for. I prefer narrow winding rivers over big broad ones, but that's getting very picky. In short I want a wilderness I can enjoy traveling through on water.

Technically speaking, Maine has no true "wilderness." The route I took is part of what is called the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. The river is rated "wild" in the AMC river guide. Outfitters and guide services describe the region as "wilderness," offering a "wilderness experience." The final 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maine, ending atop Mount Katahdin, is called the "hundred mile wilderness," a legendary stretch which Bill Bryson called "the hardest part of the Appalachian Trail and by a factor I couldn't begin to compute.... It is the remotest section of the AT. If something goes wrong in the hundred mile wilderness, you're on your own.You could die of an infected blood blister out there."

Clearly this is not Christopher Robin's One Hundred Acre Wood.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.